Samiran Sengupta

Co-lead a workshop (with Sumathi my business partner and Komal lath of Tute Consult) on branding and communication and why/how its' strategic & important for the portfolio companies of an early stage growth focused PE fund in Mumbai this noon. very interactive session. lots of takeaways. one of the biggest benefits of doing such workshops with founders and CXOs of growth companies is that you get to first hand understand their pain points and priorities. which makes you realize there is a long road ahead laden with great opportunity for those in PR & comms if we take off our hats and look at it from their perspective.

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🔥 Ep07 out now with Piyush Goenka from Prath Ventures! We talk about building great consumer brands in India 🔥 Watch here: https://lnkd.in/gaPcCTqF We talk about: > Piyush's journey across all stages of investing > How he and Harmanpreet Singh defined Prath's sector and stage focus > The journey of Safari from a 200 Crore company to a 10,000+ Crore company > Prath's recent investments in Jimmy's Cocktails, Assembly and Aukera > Consumer trends in India and opportunities in the Indian market > His experience of fundraising for Prath (not something you get to hear very often and that too so candidly and vulnerably!) > How Vipassana changed his life   Prath ideally wants to be the first institutional investor when founders are raising their seed or series A rounds and the first cheque for them is usually between 3-15 Crores which is roughly 500K-2M USD. Excited to deep dive with Piyush into the consumer landscape in India today, and his plans for Prath in the future. Founders who are building consumer businesses, you will gain a lot of rich insights from Piyush’s experience about business building as well as fundraising.

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Thanks Bismah and Inc42 Media for the insightful coverage and deep dive into the vital role of operator VCs! Bismah's thoughtful analysis underscores the growing need for operator VCs in today's startup landscape. As an operator VC , I've witnessed firsthand how founders increasingly value more than just capital. They seek partners who bring operational expertise, strategic guidance, and an extensive network to the table. These elements are crucial for driving sustainable growth and navigating the complexities of scaling a business. At GrowthCap Ventures , we understand the unique challenges faced by early-stage startups, which is why we prioritize offering not just funding, but also hands-on support and access to our extensive network. Together, we're empowering founders to realize their vision and build transformative businesses. #OperatorVC #StartupEcosystem #Gratitude

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🔥 Ep07 out now with Piyush Goenka from Prath Ventures! We talk about building great consumer brands in India 🔥 (Link in comments 👇🏻) We talk about: > Piyush's journey across all stages of investing > How he and Harmanpreet Singh defined Prath's sector and stage focus > The journey of Safari from a 200 Crore company to a 10,000+ Crore company > Prath's recent investments in Jimmy's Cocktails, Assembly and Aukera > Consumer trends in India and opportunities in the Indian market > His experience of fundraising for Prath (not something you get to hear very often and that too so candidly and vulnerably!) > How Vipassana changed his life   Prath ideally wants to be the first institutional investor when founders are raising their seed or series A rounds and the first cheque for them is usually between 3-15 Crores which is roughly 500K-2M USD. Excited to deep dive with Piyush into the consumer landscape in India today, and his plans for Prath in the future. Founders who are building consumer businesses, you will gain a lot of rich insights from Piyush’s experience about business building as well as fundraising. #startups #india #consumer #consumption #consumerbrands #founders

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A call for stricter regulations and transparency⚠️ The recent news of cancer-causing agents found in Indian food exports has sent shockwaves through consumers, myself included. While this might seem sudden, reports indicate the European Union flagged this issue over 400 times between 2019 and 2024!😨 These flagged products contained concerning levels of heavy metals like Cadmium that damages kidneys, bones and the respiratory system and Tricyclazole, found in rice, herbs, and spices which is banned in the EU due to its cancer-causing properties. If you have been following the news or my posts lately, there has been a sudden surge in breaches in food safety regulations, especially on Indian products. 📈 This is a wake-up call for stricter regulations and increased transparency in our food system. We deserve to know what we're eating and be confident it's safe.🎙️

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Some interesting takeaways: 1. Despite fintech being a "hot" space, only 4 brands out of 15 (<30%) are viewed favorably by Indian consumers 2. In the entertainment space only 3 Indian brands are ranked positively again despite Bollywood being so popular. So what differentiates winners from losers? My view is: 1. user friendliness 2. consistency of delivery 3. broad range of options to suit every user Anything I'm missing? #brands #india #consumer #fintech #media

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Today, June 29th, marks 9 years of our launch with just two completed bookings! Some people said it was impossible, other's said the TAM wasn't big enough, but here we are today 9 years, profitable, growing and many imitators entering the market! It's rather flattering we're seeing heavily-funded entrants despite them not being able to create a profitable core business of their own. It also further validates our persistence, patience and business aptitude 😊 From day one, we've focused on positive unit economics, building a scalable tech-stack and not throwing money at problems. With our limited resources, we strived to create proper product-market fit that would sustainably benefit consumers and driver partners, all while generating enough net revenue to build a strong brand and team. It's not just $6m that has been invested, but north of $30m from proceeds we've reinvested. So, for my gracious new competitors out there, best of luck and thank you 🙌 To my 160+ team members, 1,00,000+ driver partners, 8,00,000+ transacting users and our investors thank you for your steadfast support and belief in our brand for nearly a decade. I couldn't be more than excited for what this next year has in store for us! #startups #anniversary #teamwork #profitable #scaling

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SCOOP: Urban Company has turned profitable at PBT level (profit before tax) on a consolidated basis in the last month. The development will potentially smoothen its public listing plan which is likely to happen in 2025. My story:

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#FractionalCFO market in India is on a rapid ascent - Dipanjan Basu, co-founder and Partner at Fireside Ventures (a consumer brands fund with INR 3000 Cr capital managed) Why? Startups are craving top-notch financial guidance without the hefty price tag of a full-time CFO. And this trend is creating immense opportunities for finance professionals. As rightly pointed out by industry experts like Karandeep Singh, Saradha Govindarajan, and Sriram Iyer, upskilling is crucial. Is the Fractional CFO role on your radar? (This was at The Finance Story Bangalore event. Kirtane & Pandit Consulting COWRKS Datachamps) #fractionalcfos #finance #charteredaccountants #cfos

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HSBC's recent assessment values Byju's at $0, along with other unicorn startups like Meesho, Pharmeasy, and StackOverflow Valuation down from previous round. This highlights the importance of focusing on value creation over valuation in the startup ecosystem. An exemplary case is Zoho, which revolutionized the software as a service market without external funding, emphasizing customer success. #startup #funding #valuation [Read more](https://lnkd.in/dPk7i8Jh)

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I have been running a B2B business since last 5 years and started a D2C business 1 year ago. Key lessons learned are:- D2C business might seem attractive but generating a good cash flow is challenging Scaling products with AOV <1000 is very difficult in India. If you are planning to start a D2C-FMCG product business only think in long term. Anything big can be made in 10-20 year period only. Cheers ✌

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In a very candid conversation with Nitin Bajaj, Founder of EasyLeadz at the link below. One of my deepest conversations on camera, touching upon my journey since childhood, my personal life, professional experiences and how it all culminated into my ultimate calling- Avataar Skincare Technologies. If there could be a detailed blueprint of how Avataar was built- step by step, it is this. Please do watch!

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“𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳, 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿!” – said Vivek Shah (Sales Transformation, Ecom & New GTM Head, Marico) upon experiencing how Salescode is revolutionizing CPG RTM SalesCode.ai had the pleasure of hosting Marico Limited team for a full-day workshop at #SalesCodeExperienceCenter for an immersive session on "The Code of Future Ready Sales Teams & Trade with AI". 🔄 🔄 New Role of Sales Reps with AI and eB2B ⛔ ⛔ End of SFA - Why all the Sales technologies invented in the last 30 years will be reinvented in the next 3 years ⏩ ⏩ Case Studies and Success Stories of top CPG companies using AI and eB2B SalesCode #SFAI, exponentially augments the competency and behaviour of Sales Team to drive sales up-lift in each call, at each store, everyday with; 1️⃣ AI Generated TARGETs 2️⃣ AI Generated TASKs 3️⃣ AI Generated INCENTIVES for each Task We believe that this is the #EndOfSFA as we enter 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙚𝙧𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝘼𝙄 𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 >>> "𝙎𝙁𝘼𝙄" Welcome to #SalesCode #SFAI !! Experience #SalesCode "The New CODE of Sales Team and Trade with AI" >>> https://bit.ly/4aNNPyr SalesCode.ai Guarantees a minimum 3% Sales Uplift !! We promise a 110% refund of the cost if we do not deliver !! #SFAI #NextGenSFA #AI #AIforSales #eB2B #EndOfSFA

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🔥🔥 Issue 150 is out 🇮🇳 India will be the next large luxury market 💄 McKinsey & Company: Key imperatives for CPG companies to succeed ⚽ Will Mas+ by Messi stand the test of time? 🏃🏽 Sales of 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐟𝐨𝐫-𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 have risen in the last five years, with urban India leading the shift 🎦 Portfolio Spotlight: EazyDiner X PVRINOX PICTURES 🥜 Portfolio Snapshot: The Farmley Case Study ☕ Did you know that in the US, 67% of adults drank coffee in the past day - more than any other beverage, including water? 👜 Bain & Company: 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐮𝐱𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 to Slow in 2024 🍦 Go Zero closes new funding round 🍾 India is a key lever in the growth of the 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 🌶️ 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 are booming in the USA 📰 Select funding & deal news Subscribe to get the newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gYfRKVsd #cpg #startups #consumer #brands #insurgentbrands #india #southeastasia #brickbybrick #wswod Hariharan Premkumar Sameer Mehta Pooja Shirali Leong Hein Hun DSG Consumer Partners Everiday Foods

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3 of my top insights listening to Charath Narasimhan at the Wooqer Chennai #LFTG! 1. Don't differentiate between company owned stores and franchisee stores. The customer doesn't. Have the same SOPs for both. 2. Choose not just COCO employees but also Franchisee Store Managers. And pay the salary for Franchisee Store Manager, but pay it through the Franchisee. 3. Choose Franchisees who are willing to invest time, not just money. Simple but such accurate and actionable insights. Try them out for your business and do share if you have similar or different experiences.

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Shameless plug for a portfolio company 😗 | With the evolution of points of sale, one of the biggest being Quick Commerce, calling out the awesome journey of Daalchini - Smart Vending Machines. Founded by Prerna Kalra and Vidya Bhushan, they started off as a vending machine for fresh foods, allowing you to place orders in the morning for lunch & dinner, while stocking some ready-to-eat products. They had a large uptake, with corporate offices loving the concept. Enter the big C (Covid), which led to the work-from-home movement. Undeterred, Prerna and Vidya switched the products to packaged foods (chips, nuts, drinks and ready-to-cook), working with industry leaders like Reliance, Bharat Forge and more to operate vending machines for their plants (essential services). Once the world moved back to the office, Daalchini marched on, deploying machines across Corporate and Industrial India, with clientele including Amazon, EY, JSW, Samsung and more. Today, with over 1,600 points of distribution, over 60 items sold every minute, complete UPI payment integration and the capability to micro-target audience (across regions and income brackets), Daalchini is a formidable retail force. With a presence across 35+ cities, they are also emerging as an innovative advertising channel, allowing brands to put up banners, utilize the order screen tablet, as well as white-label to put up single brand machines. It's my go-to snack option in office (so much for the waistline) with a fun mix of Challenger brands (Taali, Mr Makhana, Paper Boat) and Legacy brands (Haldirams, Lays, Snickers). Also (important to me!) unit economics are 💰💰 💪💪 #d2c #founders and office managers alike, check them out!

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Forbes India’s Neha Bothra sits down with Karthik B. Reddy, co-founder and partner, Blume Ventures, to piece together how founders and investors cross the maze of value creation to take a startup from seed to scale. Join in as we delve into the secretive world of venture capital funds and demystify the randomness of success in #VC investing where investors depend on gut instincts more than financial data to find the next #unicorn. Can they break the spell of the Power Law? Find out on Pathbreakers

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When we decided to launch our first offline/physical leap.club in Bandra, Bombay, we were unsure of the number of members we should start with. We were worried about the demand as a club is a physical space that potential members will want to visit + the price point was significantly higher than our virtual membership. And we did not even have a picture of the space. To optimise for $$, we did not have the luxury of time and had to start ops + onboarding members. This was also a good way to test the demand for the space. So we took our biggest leap of faith - locked the location and launched a website to gauge interest. To our surprise, 1000+ women signed up on the waitlist in 7 days. We already have close to 3000 virtual members in and around bandra and they naturally became early adopters. We then went one step ahead and started inviting handpicked members (who we thought will benefit the most from the space) to pay and secure their membership. This was obv the biggest litmus test. We kept a target of onboarding 100 members for month 1. To be honest, at that time this seemed like a wild target. We are now ready to close memberships as we are about to hit the 100 mark. That too ~2 months before the launch. We still do not have any pictures but are grateful for the opportunity and insanely excited for what the space can become. And all the opportunities that it might open for our members. We are not in the business of offline clubs. Women join us because leap.club enables new opportunities, professional connections, new friendships. And now we are building offline clubs to better serve all the above.

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